After transmigrating into a stepmother, I transformed my whole family to work on farming

Chapter 8 Selling Straw Sandals

For dinner, Qin Yao made boiled taro.

Don't look at the two bags full of taro she brought back, but there are five mouths in the family, and each of them is a starving ghost. About fifty catties of taro, after two meals, only half of it is left.

This is because Qin Yao restrained herself and didn't dare to eat more, otherwise, given that she was [-]% full, it is estimated that there would not be half of it left.

Liu Dalang and the others, who were full, found that there was only a little food left, and regretted that they hadn't restrained themselves.

Qin Yao didn't think so much. There were still a lot of taros in the mountains. If you dig them all back, you should be able to eat them for a month.

In the short term, she doesn't have to worry about starving to death.

It’s just that taro is not easy to store. Unprocessed taro can only be stored for three days under the current temperature conditions. There is no way to store it. You can only dig it when you want to eat it.

Qin Yao is glad that no one here eats it, otherwise the free ration would be wasted.

At night, Qin Yao, who was full of food and drink, began to weave straw sandals in front of the torch.

It was a bit unfamiliar at first, but once I got used to it, my hand speed became very fast.

The twin brothers and sisters yawned again and again, Qin Yao told them to go to bed, but the two refused, staring at the straw sandals in her hand, waiting to put on new shoes.

Qin Yao felt distressed and helpless, so she let them go.

The villagers here have no nightlife at all. In order to save money on lighting, they go to bed after dark.

Liu Ji's house lived in a remote place, and there was silence all around, only the howling of wild animals on the mountain could be heard from time to time.

Perhaps due to such an atmosphere, Dalang and Erlang suddenly thought of their bastard father who was carried away. They gave Qin Yao a weak look and hesitated to speak.

Finally, Dalang couldn't hold it back and was about to ask Qin Yao when he would redeem his father. Qin Yao completed the first pair of straw sandals and handed them to him.

"The elders and the younger are in order. This pair will be given to Da Lang first." After Qin Yao finished speaking, she picked up the straw rope and continued to weave the second pair.

She is also very tired this day, and she is ready to rest after making another pair for herself.

Da Lang's out-of-mouth questioning was forced to be suppressed.

However, seeing this pair of tightly woven straw sandals that looked very sturdy and easy to wear, the little boy was surprised and took the sandals off the table. Under the envious eyes of his younger brothers and sisters, he placed them at his feet for gestures.

I don't know whether it was Qin Yao's intention or not, but the size is just right.

These are a pair of thong sandals. Although they are far inferior to cloth shoes, they are already the best for Da Lang who has almost no shoes to wear.

He picked up the straw sandals, looked at them again and again, and finally held them in his arms cherishingly, planning to wash his feet before wearing them tomorrow.

Although Erlang and the three of them were also envious, they knew that they all had a share, so they waited patiently.

It's a pity that Qin Yao only made double pairs tonight.

The three brothers and sisters can only regret to go back to sleep and look forward to tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Qin Yao put on new straw sandals, casually ate two yams left over from yesterday's cooking, and went out with a hoe on her shoulder.

Liu Dalang was awakened by the sound of her getting up, and wanted to be with her, but Qin Yao refused.

It would be faster for her to go alone, and Liu Dalang followed, but she still had to spare her energy to take care of him.

Qin Yao went early and returned early, dug two bags of taro and came back.

Her goal at this stage is to get better as soon as possible and let the wild beasts in the mountains go for the time being. She will come back after she recovers and gets all the equipment.

So after digging three days’ worth of taro, I decided to go down the mountain.

After all, the body is the capital of the revolution, so we can't bother with this body too much now.

The children at home have already prepared breakfast, and they will not start eating until she comes back.

This point was beyond Qin Yao's expectations, she did not expect that the four brothers and sisters would prepare a meal first and wait for her.

It may be because she brought the food back, and she has the right to distribute it by default.

Half of the leftover taro from yesterday weighed about eight or nine catties. Qin Yao divided the bulk, and the four children divided according to their food intake.

Si Niang clings to A Niang and wants to feed her from time to time.

Qin Yao took a small bite intentionally, and the little girl laughed so hard that her eyes were bent. She put her little head on her back and happily ate the sweet and glutinous taro in small bites.

After breakfast, with the expectant looks of Erlang and his three children, Qin Yao picked up the straw rope and started the day's craft work.

This time I took a lot of time, and I finished three small straw sandals in one day, and made an extra pair of adult-sized straw sandals.

Several children washed their feet carefully, put on new shoes, and walked around the yard with satisfied faces.

Looking at Qin Yao, the stepmother's eyes, unconsciously, there was a little more intimacy that they didn't realize.

Erlang walked over with new shoes, looked at the extra pair of straw sandals, and asked tentatively:

"Auntie, can I take these shoes to sell in the village?"

Qin Yao's first reaction was surprise, "Can this be sold?"

Erlang wasn't sure, but he wanted to give it a try. "Even if you can't sell it for money, it would be good to change the food for the family."

Qin Yao didn't expect this kid to have such a business acumen. It may be that poverty forced them to learn how to survive early.

Qin Yao nodded and agreed.

Erlang greeted his eldest brother and twins in surprise. The four brothers and sisters carefully hugged the pair of straw sandals and walked towards the most lively well in the village.

The water tank at home was empty again. Qin Yao picked up the lonely bucket in the corner, locked the door, followed the four siblings, and went to fetch a bucket of water.

She had no expectations that the four siblings would be able to sell their straw sandals, but she did not interfere and watched secretly.

Unexpectedly, after Erlang hawked for a while, people actually gathered around to look at the straw sandals, and after some bargaining, they got a handful of green vegetables and a loofah.

The four brothers and sisters were so surprised that they hurriedly took the vegetables in exchange and ran to Qin Yao to claim credit.

Qin Yao smiled and raised her thumbs up at the four of them. Looking at the back of the woman who changed the straw sandals, she had an idea in her heart.

Perhaps, she could make a few more pairs of straw sandals and trade them with the villagers for daily necessities.

Such as oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, pots and pans, and seasonal vegetables grown by farmers themselves. They might have plenty of these things, but she just needed them.

Qin Yao had complained enough about Liu Ji's family's poverty yesterday.

The whole family can't make up five complete pairs of bowls and chopsticks, and there is only one bucket for fetching water. The water tank is so small that she has to fetch water four or five times a day to get enough water, which is a waste of time.

"Let's set a small goal first and come back in exchange for a barrel and a pole."

Early in the morning, Qin Yao stood in front of the four brothers and sisters with her hands behind her back and spoke seriously, as if she were a military training instructor.

Dalang and Erlang nodded solemnly, full of energy.

The twin brothers and sisters were still young, and they also nodded their heads ignorantly, looking like they were ready for battle.

Qin Yao smiled, and looked at Da Lang and Er Lang, "Let's go to your lord's field to borrow some straw first, and pay him back when we make money, what do you think?"

The two brothers looked at each other and without any hesitation, turned and ran towards Old Man Liu's field.

A family of five, with strict division of labor.

Dalang and Erlang are in charge of handling raw materials, Sanlang and Siniang are in charge of preprocessing, and Qin Yao is in charge of rubbing straw ropes.

In less than a day, a large roll of straw rope was piled up in front of the house, enough to make at least ten pairs of straw sandals.

When the sun was setting, Dalang and Erlang ran back empty-handed and reported, "Auntie, all the straw in the field has been removed!"

Qin Yao looked at the big roll of straw rope beside her, then at the pile of straw piled up in the house, nodded, relieved them of the task of carrying them, and transferred to the steering group for rope rubbing, and strived to get the first batch of straw in the morning. Take out the straw sandals!

(End of this chapter)